


Synesthesia

by Iyliss



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gen, Heat and Summer, Sensory Description
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 12:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15640560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iyliss/pseuds/Iyliss
Summary: It's summer, it's hot, and Astral wants to understand heat. Sadly for Yuma, all he has to explain that sensation is sight and sound.





	Synesthesia

**Author's Note:**

> First time I write fanfiction, first time I write in english. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it ! If you have any comments on layout or tags or mistakes or whatever please tell me.

It was a hot July day. The kind of hot day where even the coldest shower feels like a sauna ; where a single ray of sun is a massive skin destruction weapon and where every breath of air is hard to swallow.  
It was the middle of the holydays, and Yuma wished he could make a better use of it, better than just lying down in the attic. Akari had took all the fans in the house. Such hotness was dangerous for her PC -she said- and she needed to work. How could she even work to begin with ? Yuma wasn't even able to sit and take his deck.  
But there was something even more frustrating than his sister's fans requisition. A certain blue alien seeming completely insensitive to heat. Not a sweatdrop, not a single hard breath, he was just floating around aimlessly. How unfair.

« Yuma. »  
How could Astral think Yuma had the strength to talk ? He could barely breath in any air, so letting out words was far beyond his current capacities.  
« Hey, Yuma. » Astral was now right over him, looking right into his eyes. « If you don't plan on working on your deck, could you at least turn on the TV ? »

Astral was really getting on Yuma's nerves. Not feeling the heat was one thing, but completely ignoring the nightmare he was going through... He harshly answered.  
« Can't you see that I'm dying, Astral ?! »

His face immediately changed expression. The botherish look turned into a deep concern. Yuma sensed Astral was about to panic and quickly explained himself.  
« I mean... the heat is just so strong. You can't feel it, but it makes everything difficult to do for me. »

« Heat ? I have heard of this before, it looks like a lot of humans have it. Is it such a common disease ? »

« It's not a disease ! It's not... inside ! It's when it's really hot outside and humans feel it. »

« And why don't I ? It must be interesting to feel. »

« Because you don't have a skin, so you can't touch and sense such things ! And, believe me, you don't want to. »

Astral had his sad kitty look. He always had it when he couldn't understand something. He looked like a little kid who was refused extra dessert. But what could Yuma even do about it ? He would give anything right now to trade his physical body for Astral's. Just sight and sound was enough, he didn't need a sense that made him feel like he couldn't even rise a finger...

« Hey Astral ? Imagine you can't move. Like something is over your whole body and moving it is incredibly hard. »

« Why do you want me to imagine this ? »

« Close your eyes and just imagine it. It's on you but it's not something you can really hold. It's like... everything around you puts weight on you. That's how hot feels like. »

« ...weight ? I can't really imagine something like this. »

Yuma sighed. But now he didn't want to give up on making Astral understand what hot felt like. He rose up from the ground. Astral was mirroring his position, sitting in front of him and waiting to hear more of the description. He only had two senses, sight and sounds. Yuma had to only use this in his description.

« I know ! » he bursted out. « You see the spectrum of light ? »

« Yes, why ? »

« Well take the colors from yellow to red, with orange in the middle. These are called 'hot colors ' ! »  
Astral nodded, so Yuma kept on.

« You see the sun ? It looks kinda yellow. Well yellow would be a soft, tender hotness. Like when the sun is rising in the morning. Because heat comes mostly from the sun. Orange would be a good-vibe heat, like a fine fall afternoon. And red... red is like now. It's a strong, awful heat that make you feel heavy and... »

Yuma knew he was back explaining through things Astral couldn't understand, so he stopped to let him think. He just loved feeling like he was the one doing the teaching. After a few seconds, he asked : « Does it mean everything with such colors is hot ? »

« No, not always ! Some things, like fire, do have hot colors and are hot. But overall, hot colored things aren't hot. »

« Is your hoodie hot ? »

« Not really, it's more like... warm. »

« Warm ? »

« Yes ! It's when something make you feel hot, even though it isn't. »

« How so ? »

« I think it keeps the natural hotness of our body... »

« Oh so humans are naturally hot ? Now I understand what Kotori said about you. »

« She... She said what ? »

« That you were very hot. Especially from the head. »

« What ?! » It didn't sound like Kotori. It didn't actually make sense. But Astral never lied, so this must have some kind of truth... Maybe it was a mistake ?  
« What did she said exactly ? »

« Something like... 'Yuma is so hot-headed ! If only he could calm down sometimes'. »

« Oh no this isn't.. ! well it is... it's not about actual heat. It's like the color, it represents that i am like... like a fire ! Running wild, recklessly... »

« Oh I see, then you're defenitely hot. »

« Don't say it like this please. »  
Through their discussion, Yuma had forgotten the actual heat around and now it was back. He felt incredibly tired ; he let his head slip down and closed his eyes. He had some energy now, but didn't feel like doing anything. He knew he would just be even more tired afterward.

« Yuma? »

« What again ? » He didn't even open his eyes. 

« From what i know, the sun is a good thing for humans. And you're good too. But how can hotness be bad if it comes from good things ? »

It was easy to explain something logical to Astral. When it was a complicated concept in physic and such, Yuma would just give Astral a book about it and didn't even need to explain. But as for morality- good and bad- he still struggled making him understand how it worked. The best he could do was to explain his current feelings the best way he had.

« Because when it's too hot, it gets really awful to feel. Like... Like when a light is too bright. If you look at it, it hurts, right ? Or when you're constantly in a loud background noise. Like... Like in a crowd where everyone talks at the same time. It's doesn't really feel nice, right ? »

« I guess. »

« Well the heat like it is right now, the bright red heat, it feels like this. » 

« I see... It must be highly unpleasant for you, Yuma. »

« It is... » Yuma went back to his thought, then suddenly got an idea. « A cold shower ! Ill take a cold shower, by the time I'm done it'll be less hot ! »

« Cold ? »

Looked like the shower was for later. Yuma sighed in bother and proceeded to explain cold. By the time he was done, it was already late and the heat had lowered.


End file.
